So Ops Sikap ended yesterday and major newspapers covered the increase in road accidents and related deaths. Almost every interview that covered this topic has some politician or public figure commenting on society’s attitude towards road safety being the primary reason for our blood smeared roads.

In a recent interview broadcasted on TV3, Malaysia’s IGP; Tan Sri Musa Hassan, had even remarked that even if traffic offences are punishable by death, Malaysians would still drive dangerously and with disregard to other road users.

Whether this is true or not, I doubt we’ll ever find out. I’m sure that there are just too many bad drivers in Parliament that will shoot down the dossier to shreds in a heartbeat.

However, I can’t understand why those who gather these Ops Sikap stats are only obsessed with getting the number of accidents, deaths, vehicle type and location. This data merely covers the facts directly related to the accidents.

I’ve yet to see these reports coupled with important supplimentary data like the number of road tax renewals for the past 18 months, or sales figures of road vehicles for the past year.